Samsung has officially launched its first super-thin curved TV screen with a price tag of £8,500 ($13,000) - five times more than its flat-screen equivalents.

The 55-inch model has a high-resolution OLED display and its design means the screen is an equal distance from the viewer at all times.

It is now on sale in South Korea but Samsung told Reuters the set will be made available in other countries from July - the first time a curved TV of its kind has been sold outside of Asia.

Samsung has launched its first high-resolution curved TV in South Korea before releasing it worldwide from July. The 55-inch model costs £8,500, has an OLED screen and is the first set to be made available outside Asia

Kim Hyunsuk, Samsung's executive vice president, stands with a model next to the company's new OLED curved TV screen. The curved display helps eliminate the distortion of images. It is only the second 55-inch curved TV screen to go on sale after rival LG started selling its own version in May

WHAT IS OLED TECHNOLOGY?

OLED's (organic light-emitting diodes) are used to create digital displays in TVs, computer monitors, phones, tablets and games consoles.

An OLED display works without a backlight, which means it can display deep
black levels and can be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal
display (LCD).

In low lighting, an
OLED screen can produce a higher contrast ratio than an LCD, too.

The Korean company announced the television during the Consumer Electronics Show in January this year.

At the time, Samsung's curved screen was
the world's first yet delays in the manufacturing process meant that
rival LG beat the company to selling the device.

Speaking at the launch event Kim Hyunsuk, Samsung
executive vice president, said: 'We have just introduced our first OLED TV and have to see consumer
response to gauge overall market demand.'

Samsung said it will begin selling its curved OLED television outside South Korea from July but did not specify which countries.

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The 55-inch OLED screen also supports Samsung TV features such as multi-view that lets two people watch different things at the same time.

The concave display of Samsung's new TV gives viewers a sense of being immersed in the images. Samsung claims its 'Timeless Arena' design reduces the chance of images appearing pixelated, too. The screen also supports multi-view that lets two people watch different things at the same time

Samsung
and LG, which are the only TV makers in the world to begin commercial
sales of OLED TVs, had promised to launch them in 2012 but delayed the
launch to this year.

The two South Korean TV giants tout OLED, short
for organic light-emitting diode, as the next-generation display
technology that will eventually replace older displays.

But mass
producing OLED displays still faces many challenges, leading to high
prices.

In addition to curved OLED TVs, Samsung launched two
ultra-HD TVs, with four times the resolution of regular
high-definition TVs.

Models pose with Samsung's 55-inch curved OLED TV during a press conference at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. The Korean company announced the television during the Consumer Electronics Show in January this year but delays meant it is only now available to buy

An OLED display works without a backlight, which means it can display deep
black levels and can be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal
display (LCD).

In low lighting an
OLED screen can produce a higher contrast ratio than an LCD, too.

The technology has long been touted as the
future of consumer electronics displays, offering crisper picture
resolution, a faster response time and high contrast images.

Yet televisions with OLED screens are still a niche market and Samsung warned that industry forecasts for sales growth were a bit too optimistic.

Research firm DisplaySearch has forecast global industry-wide sales of OLED televisions at 50,000 this year, at 600,000 next year and rapid growth thereafter to reach 7 million in 2016.

LG, which currently offers both curved
and non-curved 55-inch screens, is estimated to have only sold a few
hundred screens so far after starting sales earlier this year.